My childhood years were dominated by my mother's illness in the 1970's as she struggled to get a diagnosis whilst suffering with the pain of Raynauds and the progressive nature of Scleroderma, until her kidneys were affected and she spent the 1980's on dialysis (she was one of the first people in the UK to use a continuous dialysis system at home which impacted tremendously on our family's life). My mother battled on until she reached the age of 55 before she lost the fight.

As a Podiatrist (Foot Specialist), I see patients with either or both of these debilitating conditions and their effects on the feet. I try to provide as much relief as possible to maintain mobility & independence, and to relieve suffering.

In 2011 I took on the hardest challenge of my life to raise funds for the Scleroderma & Raynauds UK charity. I climbed Cotopaxi in Ecuador at a height of 19347 feet (5897 metres) and it nearly finished me off. I swore I'd never climb that high again even though I did raise over £4000. Take a look at the video of that trek here - its me collapsing at the top!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZthDWJ4sE0

Move forward 6 years and I get the crazy idea to go altitude trekking again but I keep telling everyone its not as high so I'll be fine (trying to reassure myself!). I'm off to fulfill a dream of mine to see Everest with my own eyes, so am trekking to Everest Base Camp. The highest point will be Kala Patthar at 18519 feet (5644.5 metres - the 0.5m is obviously important!) where I'll (hopefully) watch the sunrise over Everest.

I then manage to talk a few Podiatry colleagues into my mad scheme and so we are all doing the trek to raise funds for our own charities, but also to raise the profile of the profession of Podiatry as we help to keep the world walking as #podsfixfeet.

So please support me and the charity that is close to my heart by donating whatever you can. Don't forget the Gift Aid as that makes a big difference as well.

Thank you and keep on walking :-)